


Coward (You Make Of Me A)

by LittleCaity



Category: Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor
Genre: Fic Exchange, In which Keisuke is a dork, M/M, With a massive unrequited crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-07
Updated: 2015-05-07
Packaged: 2018-03-29 10:32:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3893065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleCaity/pseuds/LittleCaity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fic exchange for xweetara on Tumblr.</p>
<p>Keisuke tries to be brave, but seeing the zero above Atsuro's head turns him into a coward.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Coward (You Make Of Me A)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [xweetara](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=xweetara).



Two things struck Keisuke like blows to the chest.

 

Firstly, that Atsuro’s smile made his heart race just as much as it had the last time he’d seen it.

 

Secondly, that Atsuro’s death clock read ‘0’.

 

**.oOo.**

 

There was no such thing as ‘love at first sight’. That was nothing more than infatuation, and led to more suffering and cruelty than almost anything else.

 

Keisuke hadn’t fallen for Atsuro that first day of middle school, or the second, or the third. He couldn’t point to a day and say ‘this was the day I fell in love with my friend’. He’d simply looked back on the final day and realised, much to his shock, that Atsuro Kihara had stolen his heart away.

 

It was rather typical that they fell apart just when he’d realised how much he wanted to keep the other in his life.

 

**.oOo.**

 

“Huh? Is that Keisuke?” Keisuke cursed fate, cursed the demons keeping them trapped here, even cursed the crowds for not being thick enough to let him escape.

 

“What the? Atsuro?” It killed him inside to pretend that he hadn’t seen him, that he hadn’t known, but he couldn’t take his eyes off the blood red zero hanging over Atsuro’s head. Until now, he’d been able to tell himself that at least his friends and loved ones had escaped the lockdown and the doom hanging on everyone’s heads.

 

The rest of the conversation passed in a blur, but Keisuke would never forgive himself for running away. He had never run from anything in his life, and now he was fleeing from _Atsuro_.

 

**.oOo.**

 

He couldn’t remember when he fell in love, but he could remember the first time Atsuro looked at him and smiled that smile.

 

It had taken a while. Atsuro had been rather awkward and withdrawn at first, not used to dealing with people his own age and a self-admitted computer geek into the bargain. He was a perfect target for bullies, and more than once Keisuke sent them on their way with stinging words and equally stinging black eyes.

 

Every teacher’s lecture and after school detention had been worth it when Atsuro had pushed his ridiculous hat back into position and smiled. “You’re my hero!”

 

**.oOo.**

 

“Some hero I am,” he told himself, ducking into an alley a few blocks away from where he’d left Atsuro and his allies. “Stupid, stupid, _stupid_ coward!”

 

_I have to get going_. How could he possibly have said something so inane? He was supposed to be helping Atsuro right now, not running away in fear! For a brief moment he seriously considered banging his head against the nearest wall until he forgot his own base cowardice.

 

A flash of red caught his eye, and he looked up in desperate hope that Atsuro had followed him, that he could somehow undo the damage he’d done. His own reflection stared back, stark against dull glass, and his number was one.

 

**.oOo.**

 

“Whoa...”

 

“Are you okay?”

 

“Y-yeah... That was amazing! How did you do that?”

 

“It doesn’t matter. The important part is that they’re gone, right?”

 

“You’re right! I’m Kihara Atsuro, it’s very nice to meet you.”

 

“I’m Takagi Keisuke, and it’s very nice to meet you too.”

 

**.oOo.**

 

Atsuro was dead. Atsuro was dead. Atsuro was dead. He couldn’t stop thinking about it, the thought circling around and around in his head, dragging him down into a whirlpool of utter misery.

 

Keisuke wandered the streets almost blindly, waiting to see what would end him, and saw something he never dreamed possible. His heart literally skipped a beat, a relief so strong it almost hurt stilling it for a single moment.

 

Atsuro’s Death Clock was reading ‘2’.

**Author's Note:**

> Holy god it's been ages since I posted anything here! I will try to be a bit more active from now on.
> 
> xweetara asked for Keisuke/Atsuro and I wrote this in exchange for an adorable bit of Yamahibi fluff. I actually had a lot of fun writing it, Keisuke is a very interesting character to work with.


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